Just five days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the partial mobilization of reservists to reinforce the invasion of Ukraine, an announcement that caused the massive sale of plane tickets and long lines of cars at the borders of several surrounding countries. have started to occur internal critics for malpractice in the procedure.
Some of the voices that have issued them, with positions of responsibility in the Russian regime or members of its media front rowecho the fear that no one names but everyone fears: that the social erosion caused by the war in Ukraine will trigger the protests and end up putting the Kremlin on the ropes.
“Mobilization errors are causing fierce reactions in society, and rightly so,” he lamented yesterday Valentina Matviyenko, president of the Federation Council (the upper house of Parliament), reprimanding the governors, who are responsible for supervising the call-up campaign, for their wrongdoing. “Make sure that the partial mobilization is carried out in full compliance with the criteria, and without a single mistake,” Matviyenko stressed.
Loss of confidence
It was not the only person responsible who was upset with the lack of diligence of the authorities. The president of the Kremlin’s human rights council, Valery Fadeyev, also asked Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to “urgently solve the problems” in recruitment so as not to “undermine the confidence of the people.” Fadeev cited several aberrations, such as the recruitment of 70 parents of large families in the Buryatia region, in the far east of Russia, and of nurses and midwives without prior military knowledge or practice.
As reported by Fadeev, all those affected were summoned “under threat of criminal trial.” The president of the human rights council also pointed out those who “distribute the calls at two in the morning as if they took everyone as deserters. These are methods that create “discontent,” she warned.
Also within the sphere of power of the Kremlin, the chief editor of the RT network, Margarita Simonyan, lamented on Saturday the scandalous news and the denunciations that the call for mobilization is leaving. “It has been announced that common soldiers can be recruited up to 35 years, but the calls go up to 40 years old, “criticized Simonyan through his Telegram channel. “They are making people angry as if on purpose, as if out of spite. As if they had been sent by kyiv », he added.
“They are making people angry as if on purpose, as if out of spite. As if they had been sent by kyiv,” denounced the editor-in-chief of RT
Those dissenting voices were raised just one day after Putin decided on Saturday to replace the Deputy Minister of Defense, General Dimitri Bulgákov, in charge of the logistics of the Armed Forces, as reported Rafael M. Manueco. Although the order did not clarify the reason for the cessation, several sources pointed out that it had to do with the serious problems in guaranteeing supplies of ammunition and supplies to the forces fighting in Ukraine. A chain of errors that has facilitated the hectic Ukrainian advance in recent weeks, in a counteroffensive that has pushed the Kremlin to the limit.
controversial cases
Cases of scandalous call-ups have occurred in recent days. In the Volgograd region of southwestern Russia, a 63-year-old retired military man with diabetes and family problems was sent home by a training center. Also there, the director of a small rural school, Alexander Faltin, 58, received an order to join the mobilization despite have no military experience. His daughter published a video on the networks that went viral, and, after the controversy caused by his situation, he was allowed to return home after reviewing his documents, according to the RIA Novosti agency.
The fear of dying on the front lines of a war to invade and subdue a sister country, and the fear of repression if they do not want to participate in such an undertaking, has made departures from the country skyrocket. As reported by AFP, long queues of cars waiting to cross to the other side were observed yesterday at a border crossing between Russia and Mongolia. The head of a checkpoint in the town of Altanbulag said that since Wednesday, more than 3,000 Russians had entered Mongolia through the crossing, most of them men. Queues of people with Russian passports were also seen at the immigration counter at the border crossing, an agency journalist witnessed.
www.abc.es
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism